Lady Rams draw No. 7 seed in 4A

RIO RANCHO – The Portales High Lady Rams drew the No. 7 seed on Sunday in this week’s 12-team Class 4A state volleyball tournament.

PHS (16-7) finished third in District 4-4A, behind top-ranked Artesia and No. 2 and defending champion Roswell Goddard. Those teams earned the top two seeds and first-round byes in the event, which is double-elimination until the semifinals and championship.

The Lady Rams meet 10th-seeded Gallup (17-6) in a 10 a.m. first-round match on Thursday at Rio Rancho Events Center. The winner moves on to play Goddard (18-5) in a winner’s bracket quarterfinal at 4 p.m.

Semifinals are slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday, with the championship match at 6 p.m.

Meantime, Melrose (20-3) earned the top seed and a first-round bye in Class 1A. The Lady Buffs, second last year to Gateway Christian, get the winner of a 10 a.m. clash between District 6-1A rival Fort Sumner (12-10), seeded eighth, and No. 9 Mesilla Valley (14-8) in the winner’s bracket quarterfinals at 2 p.m. at Rio Rancho Cleveland H.S.

Also, Grady (13-10) was seeded 11th in the 1A bracket, and the Lady Bronchos face sixth-seeded Roy/Mosquero (20-3) in a 10 a.m. first-round tilt at Cleveland. The winner gets third-seeded Legacy Academy (20-3) in a 4 p.m. start.

Semifinals are set for 10 a.m. and the championship match at 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Events Center.

In Class 2A, Texico (19-4) was seeded second behind unbeaten (22-0) Cloudcroft. The Lady Wolverines have a first-round bye and will face either seventh-seeded Menaul (14-7) or No. 10 Questa (14-6) in a winner’s bracket quarterfinal at 4 p.m. at Rio Rancho H.S.

Class 2A semifinals are set for noon and the championship match for 4 p.m. on Saturday at the Events Center.